Proposing "sustainable meetings": international convention bureaus positionings in the post covid time

Proposing “sustainable meetings”: convention bureaus marketing of destinations as ethical
In the wake of a crisis and restrictions on physical interactions, the importance of meetings is emphasized more than ever. The meetings industry has gone from unprecedented down-sizing to higher booking rates than ever, and attracting meetings is an important part of municipalities place branding
strategies. AMEX (2022) describe the industry to be “firing on all cylinders” (ibid: 8), while sustainability is stated as its renewed focus (ibid.). This is evident in convention bureaus´ offering of “sustainable meetings”, in the literature referred to as green meetings (cf Mykletun et al. 2014).

Considering the climate effects of over-tourism (Nilsson 2020; Saarinen 2006), the current escalation of bookings and new digital options for travel-free meetings (Lekgau and Tichaawa 2021) questions arise of how green meetings are communicated. Studies of green meetings have focused on perceptions
depending on roles (Mykletun et al. 2014), marketing as process (Demaziere, 2020) and visitor awareness (Orthodoxou et al. 2021). Knowledge about communicative aspects can be more developed, and the aim is to understand how sustainability is communicated by professional meetings organizations.
Taking a case study approach, online material from seven Swedish convention bureaus was collected between June-November 2022 and the analysis draws on discourse theory (Wetherell et al. 2001), identifying valuations and moral terminologies.
Two common themes are certifications and expert lists on how meetings bookers can work with sustainability. Ecological concern is expressed in connection on-sites materials like tap water and food. Transportations are moderately addressed, as are digital meetings. A social theme concerns work
inclusion. “Sustainable meetings” are visualized in nature photographs, place specific and generic. In conclusion the communication morally values activities on-site, while activities to- and from-sites are less explicit. A practical implication is that convention bureaus get a better understanding of how the
communication creates ambiguous messages.

Keywords: sustainable meetings, place marketing, convention bureaus, discourse theory

References
American Express (2022), 2023 Global meetings and events forecast, AMEX, UK

Demaziere, C. (2020), Green city branding or achieving sustainable urban development? Reflections of two winning cities of the European Green Capital Award: Stockholm and Hamburg, TPR: Town Planning Review, 91 (4), 373-95.

Lekgau, Refiloe J., and Tichaawa Maloney, T. (2021), Adaptive Strategies Employed by the MICE Sector in Response To Covid-19 , Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites, 38 (4), 1203-1210.

Mykletun, R. J., Bartkeviciute, M., and Puchkova, Y. (2014), Green Meetings - Do They Matter to their Closest Stakeholders?, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 14 (3), 211-33.

Nilsson, J-H. (2020), Conceptualizing and Contextualizing Overtourism: the Dynamics of Accelerating Urban Tourism, International Journal of Tourism Cities, 6 (4), 657-71.

Orthodoxou, Demetra L., et al. (2021), Sustainable business events: The perceptions of service
providers, attendees, and stakeholders in decision-making positions, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 23 (2): 154-158

Saarinen, J. (2006), Traditions of sustainability in tourism studies, Annals of Tourism Research, 33 (4), 1121-40.

Wetherell, M., Taylor, S., and Yates, S.J. (2001), Discourse Theory and Practice: A Reader London: Sage.